The Smith River, Montana

[Bunion 2020]

http://mtcowgirl.com/2015/06/11/time...iver-memories/

A small Canadian mining start-up, Tintina Resources, is investigating the feasibility of a massive copper mine at the headwaters of the Smith River, on the banks of Sheep Creek. Tintina recently partnered with Australian-based Sandfire Resources to develop the project. Tintina has signaled that it is interested in applying for a full-scale mine operating permit from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, some time in late 2015. The mine would drop below the water table, and Tintina would have to pump water out of the mine to keep it from flooding. The pumped wastewater would contain arsenic and other toxics. Tintina’s proposed copper mine is particularly concerning because it will mine through sulfide minerals, which when exposed to air and water can react to form sulfuric acid in a process known as acid mine drainage. Montana has a long legacy of mining projects that have contaminated our rivers and streams. The Smith River is not a location for another failed mining experiment.

Counterpoint: The town of White Sulfur Springs is economically in the shitter and dying. Most young people have to move away to finds jobs and the argument goes that these are good mining jobs that will save WSS, but at what cost? Personally I am against the Mine and feel the history of hard rock mining in Montana is so full of horror stories of Dig and Run by mining companies (particularly foreign ones) that it is not worth the risk.

But I don't live in WSS and want a job.

[t-the-east]

I did a week long float on the smith about 7 years ago with a group of about 12. One of the best experiences of my life. I hope it never changes

[Ignatius]

I too have floated the Smith and found it to be quite spectacular. Putting that at risk of permanent destruction seems like a bad call. (Or even just at risk of lower flows due to the mine messing with the water table -- that river has a short season as it is...).

But these questions are rarely simple. Bunion raises a valid counterpoint. Another big counterpoint, to me at least, is that there's something to be said for mining in this country where we have substantially stronger environmental protections than in many other countries. There'll be copper etc being pulled out of the ground some place, and if it's not in MT then it might be someplace where there's nothing to stop the mining company from laying waste to a huge area and maybe some impoverished people as well. I don't want mining where I live and I don't want mining where it might impact my treasured places, but that's essentially just garden-variety NIMBY-ism.

Bunion's point gets at another key issue in these things -- local vs regional vs national perspectives and decision making. I can certainly see how a resident of WSS may be weighing a high-paying long-term job at the mine against a few bucks made each summer selling bags of ice to Smith groups that forgot to stock up in Bozeman. Who am I, living hundreds of miles away and buying my ice in Bozeman, to tell them they can't make a living off of what they've got in their backyard?

As the bumper stickers say, "if it can't be grown, it has to be mined". I'd love to see decision making weigh these things broadly, on the national or global scale. But then again, I'd also like million dollars, and a private trout stream, and untouched pow every time I go skiing, and a hamburger no a cheeseburger a hot dog a milkshake....